corallo

Forms

corallo m (plural coralli)^[1] Old Italian forms include coraglio, coralo and southern curallu.^[2] Bolognese and Romagnol have forms from the variant corallium (Bolognese kurai, Romagnol korai).^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin corallum, a Late Latin form of Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion, “coral”).^[5][6][7][1] Latin also had curalium and Greek κουράλιον (kourálion).^[8][9] The origin of the Greek word is uncertain;^[5][6][4][1] DEI suggests a Semitic source, comparing Hebrew and Arabic words for a small stone or pebble, and Wiktionary also thinks a Semitic origin probable.^[5][6][4][1]

The word belongs to Italy and the western Romance languages: French corail, Occitan coral and Catalan coral, from which come Spanish coral and Portuguese coral.^[6][3][4] The classical form gave Abruzzese, central Marche, Emilian and Romagnol forms and Medieval Latin coraglium (Imola, 1334), which DEI thinks may be a Grecism of the Exarchate of Ravenna.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Tomaso da Faenza (second half of the 13th century), and its first sense is a hard stone, believed to be a sea plant that had hardened, used as an ornament and for its healing and wonder-working powers.^[2] DELI dates the word from Cecco d'Ascoli (before 1327), who writes that in the Red Sea è legno per natura lo corallo (“coral is by nature wood”).^[5][10]

Semantic evolution

The poem L'Intelligenza describes coral as growing green under the sea and turning red when the air reaches it.^[10] Old Italian already spoke of white, black and red coral.^[2] DELI dates the senses “the animal” from Cecco d'Ascoli (before 1327), “the branched skeleton used for ornaments” from an anonymous 14th-century text, and the colour from Boiardo (before 1494).^[5]

Derivatives follow from the 16th century: corallino (1513), corallina, the red alga (1561), and later a boat used by coral fishers (1772), and corallaio, the craftsman who cuts and polishes coral (1697, as corallaro).^[5] In cooking, the word names the red eggs of some crustaceans used in sauces, a calque of French corail.^[9]

Timeline

• Second half of the 13th century – First record, in Tomaso da Faenza.^[2]
• Before 1327 – Cecco d'Ascoli uses it for the sea animal.^[5]
• 1334 – Medieval Latin coraglium is recorded at Imola.^[4]
• Before 1494 – Boiardo uses it for the colour.^[5]
• 1561 – Corallina is recorded for the alga.^[5]
• 1956 – Corallo is recorded as the name of a plant with red berries.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (zoology) A small colonial sea animal (class Anthozoa) that builds a branched limestone skeleton; with a capital, the genus Corallium.^[7][11][12]
2. The hard skeleton of these animals, white to deep red, worked into jewellery and ornaments: un rosario di corallo.^[7][12][11]
3. A piece of worked coral, a coral jewel.^[7][9][13]
4. The bright red colour of coral: labbra di corallo.^[7][12][14]
5. (cooking) The red eggs of some crustaceans, used in sauces.^[7][9]

Adjective

1. (invariable) coral-coloured, bright red: una sciarpa corallo.^[7][12][11]

Word family

• corallaio
• corallifero
• corallina
• corallino

Related words

• Latin corallium
• French corail

Usage notes

Set phrases include corallo rosso or corallo nobile (Corallium rubrum), corallo nero, and corallo pelle d'angelo, a rare pale pink variety.^[14][12][9] A separate corallo (1956) names a plant of the nightshade family, Solanum pseudocapsicum, after the colour of its round red berries.^[7][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1102
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli